I was feeling pretty good about the prefix mini-unit we just completed until I received an email this evening from the parent of one of my students.
So M. was flummoxed by a word problem on a math test that apparently asked him which answer "depicted" something. He had just learned that the prefix "de-" meant "take away" so he didn't understand what depict meant. He said he asked [his math teacher], but I think he was really confused. He thought somehow it meant "did not show."
And I replied:
Oh dear!
I sympathize with M's confusion, but I also commend him for trying to, as the SOL states, "Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to determine meanings of common English words."
Thanks so much for letting me know; I'll talk to him tomorrow to see if I can help.
I'll embrace it as the teachable moment about a complex subject that it is.
So M. was flummoxed by a word problem on a math test that apparently asked him which answer "depicted" something. He had just learned that the prefix "de-" meant "take away" so he didn't understand what depict meant. He said he asked [his math teacher], but I think he was really confused. He thought somehow it meant "did not show."
And I replied:
Oh dear!
I sympathize with M's confusion, but I also commend him for trying to, as the SOL states, "Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to determine meanings of common English words."
Thanks so much for letting me know; I'll talk to him tomorrow to see if I can help.
I'll embrace it as the teachable moment about a complex subject that it is.
How thoughtful she was to let you know about this misunderstanding. I hope the math teacher was notified as well, given that vocabulary has a place in all subjects.
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